Thursday, June 16, 2011

Hanging Votive Wall Decor Re-Do

I received the most beautiful hanging candle holder for my birthday. My lovely future sister-in-law gave it to me. The colors perfectly matched the guest bathroom, but there was a problem...the holders were linked together vertically so I'd have to hang it on the ceiling. Hmmm, I loved it but I just could never seem to get it to look right. So I made this instead!

Read more to see what it looked like before I transformed it!

It started out like this...

I loved it, but I just couldn't make it work. I looked awkward haning on the wall and it was too long to hang it in the corner where the wall meets the sink.

A girl from my Bible study reminded me about ReStore. She made wall coat hanger from supplies she bought from there and it was so cute! I decided that I'd go check it out. ReStore is a home improvement store that benefits Habitat for Humanity. You can find great deals on lots of stuff in there, from hardware, to light fixtures, paint to appliances. There are new and used items you can buy. If you ever have left overs from a project that you don't want or need, don't throw them out! Donate them to ReStore and help a good cause! Ok- enough of my promoting! I shopped and found what I needed. I bought a cabinet door, a paint brush, and a sanding sponge for $8!

My plan was to paint this cabinet door, disassemble the candle holder, and mount each invidiual holder onto the door. Then I would hang the door on the wall. I took all the old hardware off and saved it. It's old and grimey, but maybe I'll use it for something else?

Then I started sanding.

I had to cover up the holes were the hardware was drilled in. I searched the internet and found a cool tip on diynetwork.com. They said to take saw dust and mix it with wood glue to make a paste. You could then use that to fill your hole.

So that is what I did. I didn't want to go buy wood putty just for this small project. I added glue drop by drop to the saw dust that had been collecting on my work space from sanding and stirred it with a tooth pick until it was the consistency that I needed.

I filled each hole with the saw dust putty and smoothed the top as best I could.

And then I had to sand down each hole so that it was smooth with the rest of the surface.

I painted the door white so that it would go with the wall color and the votive holders nicely. I almost forgot to paint the edges!

Now I had a pretty clean slate to work with.

I took apart the candle holders link by link and arranged them on the board and then nailed them in through the top loops that connected each holder to each other.

So that the silver colored nails wouldn't clash with the wire of the candle holders, I painted them black to disguise them.

I nailed picture hangers to the back and had Justin put it up for me. I'm a terrible hanger-whatever I'm hanging ALWAYS ends up crooked!

I really love the way it turned out and how it looks in the guest bath! The colors match perfect!